ARRL General Bulletin ARLB005 (2006)

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ARLB005 Vanity call sign fee poised to drop slightly later this year
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ARRL Bulletin 5 ARLB005
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT March 27, 2006
To all radio amateurs
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ARLB005 Vanity call sign fee poised to drop slightly later this year
The FCC wants to reduce the Fiscal Year 2006 regulatory fee to
obtain an Amateur Radio vanity call sign to $20.10 for the 10-year
license term. The current vanity fee is $21.90. The Commission
proposed the new fee in a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM),
"Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2006,"
in MD Docket 06-68, released March 27. If ordered as proposed, the
new vanity fee would become effective in August or September. The
FCC is obligated to collect nearly $289 million in regulatory fees
during FY 2006 to fund its operations.
Comments on the proposed fee schedule are due Friday, April 14.
Reply comments are due Friday, April 21. The FCC has projected
collecting $171,188 in vanity call sign fee receipts from 8500
applications in FY 2006.
The vanity call sign fee has assumed somewhat greater significance
this year as the renewal window is about to open for the first
Amateur Radio licenses assigned vanity call signs in 1996.
Applicants who wish to keep their post-1995 vanity call signs must
pay the vanity call sign regulatory fee in effect at the time the
renewal application reaches the FCC. Any Amateur Radio renewal
application may only be filed within 90 days of the license
expiration date.
Amateur Radio licensees holding vanity call signs granted prior to
1996 do not have to pay a regulatory fee when renewing. This is
because Congress did not begin requiring the FCC to annually recover
its regulatory costs until 1993. Additionally, such licensees are
not specifically tagged as vanity call sign holders in the ULS.
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